Uptown. Downtown. From the Brooklyn Bridge to Bedford Hills. Into the Barrio
and out on the docks. Lieutenant Theo Kojak (Telly Savalas, Kelly's
Heroes) and the hard-working detectives of New York's Manhattan South
precinct are making their presence known all over the big rotten Apple during
this, their busiest season so far.

Between deft drama and scene-chewing histrionics, Kojak: Season Four
swings like a pendulum do.

Opinions will vary; mine is that the season premiere -- which involves the
kidnapping of Kojak's niece -- is an overblown, hyper-emoted dud. Ditto for
"Kojak's Days," a sprawling, multi-storied essay on the paces our Lieutenant
gets put through on a daily basis. Then again, isn't that the basis of every
episode?

On the other hand, there's the complex, multi-layered and thoroughly
absorbing (Emmy-nominated) two-parter "A Shield For Murder," easily one of the
series' very best. Following close behind are "A Need To Know," featuring Hector
Elizondo (Pretty Woman) as a child molester protected by diplomatic
immunity, and "An Unfair Trade," where a (white) cop's (justified) shooting of a
minority teen becomes a toxic political football, in a game of political
expediency versus justice.

Ying and yang, baby. That's what this season's all about.

Fortunately, Shout! Factory remains consistent in presenting these
remarkably well-restored episodes. One complaint: The absence of English SDH
subtitles. As good as the Dolby 2.0 mono restoration is, we're talking about a
television show from 1976 that features quite a bit of heavy NYC dialect.

As I said, opinions will vary about the quality of individual episodes, and
those that misfired for me were graded on a curve. In other words, middling
Kojak beats the hell out of most cop shows at their most magnificent.